Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828–1965

Index

accident liability: common law of, 24–26, 303; and company safety work, 186, 189–93, 238–40, 276; costs and effects of, 26, 53, 160, 168, 213, 218, 228, 234, 237–39, 280, 283–85, 400n3; Employers’ Liability Act of 1908, 186, 209, 237, 280; fraud, 170–72; for grade crossing accidents, 25, 124, 213; hazardous cargo, 216–18, 222–23, 228; new inventions, 25; for passengers , 24–26; for trespassers, 24–25, 121; for workers, 25, 108, 159–60, 190–91. See also medical and benefit plans Accident Report Act: of 1901, 182, 321; of 1910, 72, 186 accidents, 181; controllability of, 22; European and American, 10; as focusing devices, 7; from hazardous substances, 217–19, 222–23, 227–28, 230–34, 301; and induced innovation, 7, 10, 26; investigation of, 72, 191, 239; publicity and public concerns, 5, 26, 71–73, 96–97, 129, 153, 192, 196, 212, 222; social construction of, 97, 107, 117, 131, 140, 146–47, 152– 53, 266–67; views of causation, 24–25, 97, 107, 117–18, 265–67. See also bridge and trestle accidents; collisions; derailments; grade crossings and accidents; little accidents; locomotives and accidents ; statistics; train accidents Adams, Braman B., 187–88, 278 Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., 3, 71– 72, 116, 186, 189, 198, 277, 305–6; and early regulation, 142; views on personal responsibility, 117 agency problems, 16, 33–37, 59, 227; as cause of accidents; 21, 89–90, 222–23; and labor markets, 8, 187–89. See also contracts and contracting; management; personnel administration air brakes, 64, 70–72, 82, 222, 225; early development, 29–30, 40; post–Civil War developments, 74–78, 83–85, 96, 110–11; in early twentieth century, 195, 250–52; after World War II, 293, 298–99. See also brakes; locomotives and accidents: brakes Allen, Horatio, 12, 135 Allen, Robert, 48, 66 American Association of Railway Surgeons, 165, 175 American Public Health Association , 174–75 American Railroad Journal, 12, 19–20, 25–31, 36, 38, 56, 79, 135 American Railway Association, 47, 89, 91, 105, 173, 181, 194, 204; explosives regulation, 216, 221–25; mechanical division, 250–54; research, 251–52, 255, 261–63, 298; and safety work, 190–91, 210, 213–14, 237. See also safety section , ARA-AAR American Railway Engineering Association , 47, 151; rail and track research, 201, 203–8, 254, 256–58, 296; station design, 212; transverse fissures, 259–63 American Railway Times, 23, 25–26, 31, 38, 54, 56, 98, 136–37, 142 American Society of Civil Engineers , 26, 47, 57; and bridge design, 132, 142–44, 149 American Society of Testing Materials , 203 American System of Railroading, 10, 14, 21; and bridge construction , 131–41 associationalism, 217, 226, 230, 234 Association of American Railways , 256, 267, 299; origins, 240; research, 276–77, 293. See also safety section, ARA-AAR Association of Manufacturers of Chilled Car Wheels, 199–201, 255–56 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 52, 83, 114, 160, 165, 169, 172, 191, 209; accidents and safety, 217, 279–80, 292 Atlantic Coast Line, 272, 280, 283, 289, 298 automatic block signals. See block signals automatic freight car couplers, 82–85, 109–12; incremental improvement, 112–15. See also couplers, nonautomatic automatic train control, 186, 188; in 1920s, 246–50, 404n32; after WWII, 292–94 automobiles and trucks, 238, 270–71; and grade crossing risks, 8, 128, 213–14, 269, 290; and passenger safety, 263, 274, 292; and trespassing, 212, 264, 274 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 10, 12, 21, 36–37, 48, 57, 59, 68, 100, 109, 114, 135–36, 191, 223, 226, 263; accidents and safety, 70–71, 210, 214, 279; medical and benefits plan, 91, 156, 161–65, 168–69, 172–73 Index 439 Block Signal and Train Control Board, 187–89, 197, 200, 246, 251 block signals: in Britain, 12, 85, 87, 91–92; cab signals, 248–50, 292; interlocking, 92–93; in nineteenth century, 70–71, 85–95, 362n42; permissive operation, 187, 246, 252, 361n38; statistics and statistical analysis, 95, 187, 193–94, 196–97, 292; in twentieth century, 183–88, 193–94, 197–98, 245–48, 253, 258, 294, 296. See also automatic train control; signals Boardman, W. H., 189, 278 boiler explosions. See locomotives and accidents Boston and Albany Railroad, 33, 40, 59, 106, 127, 139, 217 Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M), 43, 106, 117, 159, 249, 287, 300 Boston and Providence Railroad, 32, 34–36, 74, 144, 150 Boston Society of Civil Engineers, 134, 138 brakemen. See employees and...